Most Likely to Succeed

Chapter 1 Thomas Harrigan picked up the coffeepot on the small side table of the conference room and prepared to pour himself a steaming cup of the fragrant hazelnut brew. The coffee service was definitely one of the perks of clerking at the Law Offices of Clark Sterling and Associates. Each day, or so it seemed to Thomas, a new flavor would be introduced to his coffee-loving palate. “Someone’s going to have to go remind him of the meeting,” Denise Copeland, one of the attorneys, said behind him. “Don’t look at me. I did it last time. No way am I going in there again,” another attorney, Peter or something-or-other, said. “Well, he’s the one who set up these weekly meetings,” Denise said. “His secretary puts reminders on his e-mail calendar and calls him ahead of time, and he still doesn’t show up.” “Let’s get the new guy to do it.” Thomas smiled, nodding. Yes, get the new guy to go into Clark Sterling’s office to remind him of their meeting. Damn man was too intimidating, that was for sure. Tall, muscular, drop-dead gorgeous, and voted most eligible gay attorney in some stupid magazine. Also scary, brilliant, arrogant, and mean. He felt sorry for the new guy. His hand shook, splashing coffee all over the table. Wait, he was the new guy. Thomas turned to face the five others in the conference room. Two women and three men. All already attorneys and all older and wiser than himself. They smiled beatifically at him. “Oh hey, guys, not me,” Thomas pleaded. “Yes, you,” Denise, a beautiful blonde woman in her early thirties, said. She patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Thomas, you can do it.” “He scares the crap out of me.” She shrugged. “He scares the crap out of everyone. Besides, law clerks make perfect gophers.” Thomas grimaced, reached for a napkin, and wiped coffee off his hand. “Well, can’t you just have the meeting without him?” Peter—yes, that was his name—rolled his eyes. “The whole point of the meeting is for us to report on our cases to him.” “If he doesn’t remember the meeting, maybe he’ll think he attended?” Thomas suggested hopefully. “It’s just his way of testing us, I think,” an older, chubby male attorney said. “Go on, Thomas. You know you have to, so you may as well get it over with.” Thomas straightened and yanked down his suit coat. “Very well. I’ll do it.” “That’s the spirit.” Denise gave him an encouraging smile. Thomas walked past the group with his head held high and left the conference room. He’d show them. He marched down to Clark Sterling’s office and immediately turned toward his secretary’s desk. Thomas planned to sweet-talk her into reminding Mr. Sterling. “Shit.” He stared at her empty chair. No doubt she’d disappeared on purpose. Fine. Gritting his teeth, Thomas went to the door of the office and tapped on it. “Mr. Sterling? It’s time for the meeting.” Nothing. He tapped a little louder. “Mr. Sterling?” Thomas recalled Mr. Sterling had an outer office before his regular office. Some sort of sitting room or something. He might have the door shut between the two. He’d have to find out. Twisting the knob, he opened the door and peered inside. No one was in the outer office, and the other office door was closed. Thomas walked across the office to the other door. He raised his knuckles to rap on the door. “Oh, yeah, right there. That’s it, take all of my c**k in your mouth.” What the f**k? Thomas almost choked on his surprise. s**t, was Mr. Sterling getting a blowjob right in his office? If so, he’d for sure fire Thomas if he interrupted such a thing. “Spread your ass for me.” Ah, jeez. Now he was getting turned on. He shifted and reached down to move his d**k, relieving the sudden pressure in his briefs. The last thing he needed to do was to face the owner of the firm with a raging hard c**k. Thomas cleared his throat. “M-Mr. Sterling?” Of course, there was no response. If he were occupied sticking it in somebody’s ass— But if he didn’t remind Clark there was a meeting, well, he dreaded the consequences. Thomas exhaled and opened the door. “I’m sorry to…interrupt.” The room was empty. Well, not entirely. Clark Sterling sat snoring in his large, plush leather chair, his mouth hanging open with a dot of drool in the corner. Okay, Thomas knew he had a vivid imagination, but that had been a little bit too much even for him. “Oh, yeah, f**k me,” said the computer. Frowning, Thomas came around the desk and stared at the computer screen. His jaw dropped. Mr. Sterling had been watching gay porn. Thomas’s gaze went from the snoring Clark Sterling to the two men getting it on. He couldn’t believe someone could fall asleep watching two gorgeous hunks. Thomas watched the men for a few more seconds before blinking rapidly to tear his focus away. He’d been sent in to get Mr. Sterling for the meeting. He quickly noted that while sleeping, Clark Sterling looked as innocent as an angel. A lock of his golden hair lay on his forehead. Thomas had an insane urge to reach out and curl it around his finger. His high cheekbones were just a little pink at the moment. And other than the disgusting bit of drool in the corner, Mr. Sterling had amazing, full, sensual lips Thomas thought looked insanely kissable. All right, so maybe he had something of a crush on his boss. It was pretty natural, Thomas supposed. He knew the man was gay, and Thomas was gay. Thomas had also always had a thing for older guys. Okay, Mr. Sterling wasn’t that old. Thomas was twenty-five, and Denise had mentioned the boss was in his early thirties. “Ahh!” the guy on the computer yelled, startling Thomas out of his fixation on the boss. The guy had peeled off his condom and was spurting all over the stomach of the other guy. So what did the other guy have in his hand? Thomas wrinkled his nose and leaned in closer to the screen. A hand suddenly grabbed Thomas’s wrist. “What the f**k!” Thomas cried out. He jerked back in shock and lost his footing, teetering toward the lap of a now very awake Clark Sterling. The man’s arms closed around him as he landed across his boss’s chair. Thomas stared into charcoal-gray eyes framed by long, curly golden lashes. “I-I-UM, S-SORRY, sir,” the young law clerk sputtered, desperately trying to scramble out of Clark’s lap. Clark knew why, too. The man had an obvious erection. Clark smiled. “Easy, Harrigan. You’re going to injure us both. Calm down.” He loosened his grip on the man. “There you go.” Thomas Harrigan jumped up as though Clark had been on fire. Clark straightened in his chair and gazed appreciatively at Harrigan’s package. He scrubbed his hand over his face to disperse the sleepy feeling. Lord, he needed to get a decent night’s sleep. “What’s up? Why are you here in my office? Where’s Agnes?” Clark fired off rapidly. Thomas, his cheeks a really dark shade of red, grabbed a file off Clark’s desk and held it in front of his erection. “A-Agnes wasn’t at her desk,” Thomas said. His pretty green eyes widened as he turned his attention once more to the porn on Clark’s computer. “Hey, how come you get to watch that?” Clark didn’t answer just yet. He decided to spend a moment studying his new law clerk. Once the bar results were in, as long as everything else was in order with his performance, Clark intended to hire Thomas as a lawyer at the firm. If he passes. With the California bar exam that was not a given. It was beyond inappropriate for him to be checking out Thomas. He was an employee, for God’s sake. But Thomas was a damn fine-looking guy. Pretty short for a man, maybe five-seven or-eight, but the muscles rippling under Thomas’s coat more than made up for lack of height. Dark, wavy hair, those startling eyes, creamy fair skin. And, as Clark knew, gay. Far too tempting, really. Who the hell had hired this guy? Oh, yeah, he had. Remembering Thomas’s question, Clark’s gaze went to the two kissing studs on his computer. His lips curved upward. “I’m the boss.” “That hardly seems fair.” Clark shrugged. “Maybe not. But since I own the firm, I get to do whatever I want. If you ever own your own firm, you can make the decisions. Now, what the hell are you doing in my office, Harrigan?” “The meeting, sir.” Clark gritted his teeth. He hated those damn things. He should probably just cancel them, but how else could he keep the lazy lawyers at his firm on their toes? Trouble was, today he just didn’t have it in him. Last night’s incident had kept him up far too long. “It’s canceled.” “Mr. Sterling?” Thomas asked, still staring in rapt attention at the porn. Annoyed, Clark leaned forward and clicked out of the site. “What the hell is the matter with you, Harrigan? Haven’t you ever seen two guys f*****g before?” “I—well, yeah, but, not at work.” Thomas backed up a step, right into the desk. He grimaced and stepped around it. “Anyway, the meeting?” “I told you, I canceled it. Sent everyone an e-mail about it.” “What? I didn’t get an e-mail.” Clark shrugged. “Maybe I left you off the distribution list.” “But they made me come in to remind you,” Thomas protested. Clark noticed Thomas still held one of his files in front of his crotch. He held out his hand. “Want to give me that?” Thomas blinked and then looked to where Clark pointed. “Sir?” Clark smiled. “The file. Although, what’s behind it might be interesting, too.” Okay, now he really was getting himself in trouble. Harrigan would probably sue him for s****l harassment. Dumb. “Give me the file, Thomas. And then go out and remind everyone I sent them an e-mail canceling this week’s meeting. I’m sure they all received it.” Thomas flung the file at him, scattering papers from the manila folder onto the floor in front of Clark’s chair. “s**t, sorry,” Thomas said, kneeling in front of him to pick up the papers. Only now the man knelt at Clark’s crotch level. Damn if his d**k didn’t notice too. It filled and strained against his boxers. Thomas paused in the middle of scooping up a paper and stared straight at Clark’s risen c**k. His tongue darted out to run along his bottom lip. Ah, jeez. “Leave it, Harrigan,” Clark said, his voice sounding strained. “I’ll pick them up. You just…out.” Thomas scrambled up from the floor. “Yes, Mr. Sterling. I’ll just—” “Thomas, you can call me Clark.” The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Yes, sir, um, Clark. See you.” The intercom on his desk buzzed, saving Clark from having to say anything else. Thomas hurried from his office. “Yes, Agnes?” “Your sister’s on line two, Mr. Sterling. Says it’s urgent.” Fuck. He did not need more of this. He picked up the receiver. “Patty?” “Clark, he did it again.” His sister sobbed. “The cops let him out, and he burst in here this morning.” Clark’s heart hammered in his chest. “Damn. What the hell did he do?” “He slugged me in the mouth. Broke my front tooth. I’m at the hospital right now.” Clark closed his eyes. “Where the f**k is he? I’ll kill him.” “I don’t know. He took off. I called the police. Clark, can you come?” “I’ll be right there.” Patty’s situation with her ex-husband was just going from bad to worse. Last night with the bastard’s arrest, he’d thought things would calm down for a bit. He hadn’t thought Stan could make bail so fast. Thank God he hadn’t done worse to his sister, though that was certainly bad enough. He grabbed his coat and headed out of his office, stopping only to tell Agnes he’d be out of the office the rest of the day.